Targeted lighting—lighting of a particular size, shape, intensity, color, and/or aiming angle—has long been used to enhance the spectator experience. This targeted lighting often operates on a periodic trigger such as, e.g., when an actor hits a mark on a stage, when a team scores a touchdown, or when a song strikes a particular note, to further enhance the spectator experience and provide theatrical effect. The periodicity of the trigger could be random (as with scoring during a sporting event), predetermined (as when coinciding with a particular note of a recorded song), or even semi-random (as when an actor hits a mark on a stage during a scene—which will differ in timing from performance to performance). Other times there is no trigger per se other than that to turn on and that to turn off (as when a fountain is lit beginning at sunset and ending at sunrise).
Regardless of whether this targeted lighting is triggered or not, the purpose is for theatrical effect, not primary illumination. Take, for example, the aforementioned fountain which is illuminated from sunset to sunrise. The purpose of the targeted lighting is to highlight the beauty of the water and create an ambiance—not to provide specific light levels, lighting uniformity, or the like needed to adequately perform specific tasks during nighttime conditions. Even if there is no ambient light and no other lighting of the fountain, the targeted lighting is considered secondary lighting.
However, there are applications that require primary lighting during nighttime or low ambient light conditions and may also benefit from secondary lighting for theatrical effects; outdoor sporting events are one example. To ensure playability during nighttime or low ambient light conditions, primary lighting must be provided from mounted locations and directed towards the field of play—this is well known. In fact, in addition to mounting heights, mounting locations relative to the field, light levels, and lighting uniformity, color contrast, modeling, and the like are also considered to define both the quantity and quality of primary lighting based on the sport, level of play, and whether or not the event is televised; see, for example, IES lighting standard RP-6-15. So it can be appreciated that the placement and providing of primary illumination is highly regulated in sports lighting.
However, herein lies a problem when one considers secondary lighting of the target area for the purpose of providing theatrical effects to enhance the spectator experience. Each pole or mounting structure has a particular loading capacity which can vary depending on wind conditions for the region, existing features such as windbreaks and buildings, effective projected area (EPA) of the lighting fixtures mounted at or near the top of the pole or mounting structure, and the like, and which cannot be exceeded by adding a number of extra lighting fixtures at the poletop to provide secondary lighting. Extra lighting fixtures are needed at the poletop to provide secondary lighting at the target area because primary lighting fixtures often lack the ability to provide the desired theatrical effects; a lack of RGB-type color emission and rapid communication protocol to enable synchronization are two examples. What often happens in the state of the art is (i) primary lighting is used for a limited selection of theatrical effects, (ii) poletop secondary lighting is provided to the detriment of primary illumination of the target area (e.g., by taking the place of some subset of primary lighting fixtures on a pole), or (iii) additional or more substantial mounting structures are used to accommodate both poletop primary and secondary lighting fixtures. None of these are desirable approaches to providing theatrical effects to enhance the spectator experience in applications that require primary lighting during nighttime or low ambient light conditions. The first state-of-the-art approach limits the ambiance, aesthetic, or other theatrical effect which is achievable using only the primary lighting fixtures. For example, the primary lighting fixtures may be synchronized to music during a halftime show (assuming both a rapid communication protocol as well as programmable controllers are present), but no color changing is possible; this is because the industry requires primary lighting be varying degrees of what is perceived as white (color temperature being dependent upon the various factors already discussed) with a high color rendering index (CRI). The second state-of-the-art approach typically results in (i) light levels at the target area which are not acceptable (e.g., due to the substitution of secondary lighting fixtures which are only emitting during theatrical effects), (ii) color rendering at the target area which is not acceptable (e.g., due to running RGB-type secondary lighting fixtures in conjunction with primary lighting fixtures), and/or (iii) in reduced system life (e.g., due to running remaining primary fixtures at high currents to increase luminous output to compensate for the supplanted primary fixtures). Finally, the third state-of-the-art approach may simply be too costly or even prohibited due to site conditions or zoning.
It would be beneficial if the spectator experience could be enhanced through theatrical effects without interfering with or negatively impacting the primary lighting of a target area; it would be even more beneficial if the secondary lighting providing the theatrical effects could highlight or enhance the primary lighting. Thus, there is room for improvement in the art.